“There’s something in this country known as freedom of speech. She doesn’t have a copyright on that and she’s not gonna tell me that I can’t speak about my own life or my father’s where it’s a matter of public self-defense because the media is disparaging us. I’m not gonna take it,” Samantha, 53, told TMZ on Wednesday, May 16. (It is unclear when Meghan allegedly told Samantha that she cannot speak publicly about their family.)

She continued, “She’s not qualified to suggest that I don’t [speak out] under any law in this country. This is not Great Britain. I am a United States citizen, and that’s all there is to it. She’s way out of her league to tell me that I can’t speak. I’m not saying anything about her, but if I’m talking about my life or my father’s, she has to respect it.”

Samantha, who has not been invited to the wedding, acknowledged that she and the Suits alum, 36, have a “strained” relationship, but that didn’t stop her from purchasing a “sentimental” gift for the bride-to-be and Prince Harry.

“I’d like to give it to her in person, but if not, I will certainly send it,” she told the website. She declined to reveal exactly what she bought because “then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”

The Markles’ drama began on Sunday, May 13, when Meghan and Samantha’s father, Thomas Markle, was caught seemingly staging photos with paparazzi. Samantha later took the blame, saying she believed it would paint their family in a more positive light. Thomas, 73, has since revealed that he cannot attend the royal wedding because he is set to undergo heart surgery in Mexico on Wednesday, May 16.

Through it all, the former actress has turned to her 33-year-old husband-to-be. “Harry is super protective over Meghan and isn’t happy unless she is happy,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively. “Any time there is or has been negative press about Meghan, he always blows it off and acts as though it’s them two against the world.”